Parkes, Wagga Wagga, The Snowy Mountains, Moree, Williamtown and Narrabri Special Activation Precincts
Contact point
The NSW Government has identified several regional NSW locations to become thriving business hubs, or Special Activation Precincts (SAPs), and NSW Public Works are collaborating with Department of Regional NSW teams and agencies to bring these to life.
SAPs have currently been identified at Parkes, Wagga Wagga, The Snowy Mountains, Moree, Williamtown and Narrabri. These precincts are designed to create jobs, attract businesses and investors, support local industries and fuel economic development in industries such as freight and logistics, defence, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, agribusiness and tourism. The Department of Regional NSW and PWA are collaborating across government to plan, coordinate and deliver these precincts to ambitious time frames.
NSW Public Works' input began with the Final Business Case preparation for the Parkes SAP, assisting in the determination of the core facilitating infrastructure required to sustainably activate enough land to be economically feasible. The infrastructure included and supported road transport, bridges over rail, stormwater and flooding, utilities including power (supply and reticulation), water supply, wastewater, gas, telecommunication, and digital connectivity. With input from in-house specialists, the cost estimates for proposed onsite wastewater treatment plants were reduced by approximately $20 million.
NSW Public Works continued its service offering to the Regional Growth NSW Development Corporation by procuring and managing the provision of investigation early works, facilitation of infrastructure construction tender evaluation, and management of the contractor’s requests for information. NSW Public Works' infrastructure property expertise was also utilised for critical land acquisition activities.
Similar services were provided for the Wagga Wagga SAP, and in late 2020-21 NSW Public Works was commissioned to provide these services across the whole active SAP program. We have provided specialised and knowledge based advice on wastewater treatment plants in the Snowy Mountains, challenged and confirmed the construction cost estimates for drilling bores into the Great Artesian Basin at Moree, and prepared an options report on flood risk and the adoption of an appropriate flood planning level at Williamtown.
Light touch advisory input with a heavy impact
The ability to access a broad cross-section of technical specialists from across NSW Public Works has been beneficial to the program and highly valued by internal and external stakeholders alike. While their advisory input is often ‘light’, the value-add and benefit to the program has been significant. The Parkes SAP business case savings were followed with identified cost savings at Wagga Wagga SAP. Following a review of the stormwater and floodplain management policies prepared during the masterplan process, an alternative strategy was proposed and ultimately adopted. This saved the final business case approximately $7.5 million in regional detention basin construction cost estimates.
